The Wine Atlas of Germany, published by University of California Press in August 2014, is a wonderful coffee-table style book that takes a thorough look at the wine geography of Germany. It contains excellent wine maps and a wealth of useful information about German wine. However, the atlas has its limitations and this is due to the fact that (1) the way German wine makers classify their wines is in transition and (2) the Wine Atlas of Germany is a translation of the Weinatlas Deutschland, which was published in Germany in 2007; with the cut-off date for the German version almost 10 years back, the Wine Atlas of Germany was already outdated in a number of important aspects when it was published. This is the only, but a major, weakness of the book.

The authors are Dieter Braatz (deputy Editor-in-Chief of the German gourmet magazine Der Feinschmecker), Ulrich Sautter (wine writer) and Ingo Swoboda (co-author of the book "Riesling"). Jancis Robinson provided a forward. Kevin Goldberg translated the Wine Atlas of Germany and added a translator’s note at the beginning of the book.

The Wine Atlas of Germany is essentially divided into two main parts. First, there is a series of introductory chapters that provide background to the ongoing reform of wine classification in Germany, a discussion of the factors that makes a vineyard unique, an overview of the history of winegrowing in Germany and an introduction to the grape varieties of Germany. Second (and comprising the majority of the book), there is a series of 16 chapters covering all German wine regions, one by one. Each of these chapters includes detailed maps and information on the area’s soils, history and main grape varieties.

Turning to the issue of wine classification in Germany, the basic German wine classification system is that of the German wine law of 1971, which replaced the German wine law of 1930. The German wine law of 1971 created the Prädikatswein system, which links must weights to a hierarchy of predicates. In ascending order of ripeness of the grapes at harvest, these are Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Eiswein and Trockenbeerenauslese. Importantly, although the hierarchy of predicates is not a quality hierarchy, in reality it is seen that way. The terroir as a determining factor for quality clearly moved to the backburner in Germany as a result of the introduction of the Prädikatswein system in 1971.

In terms of vineyard classification, the law of 1971 distinguishes between Einzellage and Grosslage. Einzellage is a single vineyard; Grosslage is a collection of single vineyards. A village typically has say 10 single vineyards and 1 collective vineyard. The wine law of 1971 redrew the vineyard map of Germany considerably, as the law required that single vineyards be at least five hectares in size. As a consequence, the wine law of 1971 resulted in fewer, but larger and more heterogeneous single vineyards than before. In the Wine Atlas of Germany, you find all collective vineyards and all single vineyards of the German wine law of 1971.

The law of 1971 does not contain a ranking of the single vineyards. However, the authors ranked them into 4 levels: (1) Excellent vineyard; (2) Superior vineyard; (3) Good vineyard and (4) Other Vineyards. The vineyard ranking in the Wine Atlas of Germany is the subjective ranking of the authors, based on various information and historical documents that are available, such as Prussian tax documents for the 1800s.

The ranking of the authors, all three accomplished experts of German wine is sound, although I have heard critical voices. For instance, just 7 sites along the entire Mosel are listed as exceptional, 13 if you include the Saar and Ruwer. This compares with 11 exceptional vineyards in the Pfalz, 16 exceptional vineyards in the Rheingau and 21 exceptional vineyards in the Nahe. The large fan community of fruity-sweet Mosel-Saar-Ruwer wines in the world is obviously disappointed by these ratings. But this is due to the fact that the Wine Atlas of Germany is a translation of a German wine atlas - and in Germany, the wines of the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer do not enjoy the same cult status as they do outside of Germany.

Pictures: Wine Atlas of Germany

A few years ago, the VDP – the association of German elite wine makers – revolutionized the German classification system by moving to a terroir-based classification, following the Bourgogne model. With the latest modifications of 2012, at the bottom of the VDP classification are the basic entry-level wines (Gutswein). Above these are the village wines (Ortswein), followed by the single vineyard wines worthy of premier cru (Erste Lage) or even a grand cru (Grosse Lage) status. Note that in 2012, Grosse Lage replaced Erste Lage at the top of the VDP classification. Also, Grosse Lage should not be confused with Grosslage, the term for a large collective site in the law of 1971 (which in my view should be abolished).

Obviously, the Wine Atlas of Germany reflects only the early phase of these fundamental reforms.

Unfortunately, so much has happened in the past years, and this is not reflected in the atlas. Thus, if you have a recent vintage of a VDP producer, the Wine Atlas of Germany is of only limited help for you, if you want to know more about where the wine comes from.

Should one care about the VDP classification? It is the classification of just 200 winemakers, while there are 20.000 or so winemakers that are not members of the VDP. Yes, one should care. It is the elite of Germany (although there are quite a number of top winemakers that are not members of the VDP). When it comes to drinking German wine outside of Germany, the wine market is dominated by VDP producers. And rightly in my view, the Wine Atlas of Germany pays a lot of attention to the VDP classification – but does not capture the changes of the last years.

Finally, looking ahead, Germany is in the process of changing the wine geography further by allowing Gewann names - a sub-plot of a single vineyard - on the label, as a response to the fact that many single vineyards established in the wine law of 1971 are of quite varied quality (i.e. heterogeneous). Many such Gewanne have already been registered and you will see more and more of them on German wine labels. This reform, of course, is not reflected in the Wine Atlas of Germany.

To sum up, the Wine Atlas of Germany does not capture the most recent movements to a Bourgogne-type ranking of vineyards in Germany, but there is much more to the book. Overall, the Wine Atlas of Germany is a beautiful book with great maps and lots of background information. The excellent photographs capture essential details of each region covered. Finally, German wine lovers from outside of Germany will be excited by the coverage of the internationally lesser known regions, such as Baden, Württemberg and Saxony for example.

Following an exciting visit of Domaine Séguinot-Bordet in the North of Chablis, we drove all the way through the Chablis Region to the South of Chablis to have lunch at another highly-regarded Chablis producers: Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard. After lunch, we had a cellar tour and a tasting. Alexis Madelin was our guide. The special wines at the lunch were introduced by Odile Van Der Moere, Responsable de Cave. We were also greated by Sebastian Gay from the Brocard family.

Chablis is part of the Bourgogne wine region, but wines from Chablis are usually referred to by their own name. Chablis is up in the north, a separate wine region.

Burgundy is the most terroir-oriented region in France. Immense attention is paid to the area of origin, as opposed to Bordeaux, where classifications are producer-driven and awarded to individual chateaux. In Burgundy, a specific vineyard or region will bear a given classification, regardless of the wine producer.

The main levels in the Chablis classifications, in descending order of quality, are:

(1) At the top of the classification are the Grand Cru vineyards, which are all located on a single hillside near the town of Chablis. The Grand Cru vineyards cover a 106 hectare area, made up of 7 “Climats” (Blanchot, Bougros, Les Clos, Grenouilles, Preuses, Valmur and Vaudersir) and account for around 3% of Chablis’ production.

(2) Second in quality are the Premier Cru vineyards, covering an area of 750 hectares, gathered together into 40 “Climats”.

(3) Next is the generic AOC Chablis, the largest appellation.

(4) At the lowest end of the classification is Petit Chablis, which comprises the outlying land.

Chablis wines are almost all Chardonnay, bone-dry and fresh, with good acidity. Compared with the whites from the rest of Burgundy, Chablis tends to have much less influence of oak. Typically, Chablis is completely unoaked, vinified in stainless steel tanks, although many Grand Cru and Premier Cru wines receive some maturation in oak barrels. But aging time in the barrel and the share of new wood tends to be much smaller than for white wines of the Cote d’Or.

Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard

Jean-Marc Brocard was born in the small village of Chaudenay-le-Château in the Côte d'Or of the Bourgogne. Jean-Marc's father was a farmer, without any connection to wine. Jean-Marc’s marriage to his childhood sweetheart Claudine - the daughter of Emile Petit, a vigneron from the village of St-Bris-le-Vineux, a little town in Chablis, the most northerly wine-growing area of the Bourgogne, led him to wine. As a wedding present to the young couple, Emile bestowed upon them one hectare of vines near the Church of Sainte Clair, and in 1972 Domaine Brocard was born.

Starting with 1 hectare of vines, Jean-Marc Brocards has created an estate of some 180 hectares vineyards in Chablis and elsewhere in the Bourgogne.

Pictures: Cellar Tour of Domaine Jean Marc Brocard

In the beginning, Jean-Marc spent countless hours with the old vignerons of Chablis in an effort to master his new craft, and to learn the nuances of the vine. In particular, Jean-Marc acknowledges a considerable debt to one of the old vignerons of St-Cyr les Colons, a man named Louis Petit, who despite the name is unrelated to his father-in-law. The oldest vines of the Domaine Sainte Claire came from Louis Petit and it was he who gave to Jean-Marc the sense of tradition and a respect for nature, showing him that you can still maintain the old traditions, while practicing modern methods.

In 1996, Julien Brocard joined his father with the firm idea to convert to organic and biodynamic farming. La Boissonneuse vineyard was converted to Biodynamie in 1997 and ‘Vielles Vignes’ in 2001. Nowadays, Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard is run by the ‘Father-Son’ team Jean-Marc and Julien.

The Terroir

Situated near Auxerre in the valley of the Serein River, Chablis is one of France’s oldest wine growing regions. Prized by French kings and always found on the best tables in the 19th century, Chablis wines were considered prestigious.

Chablis wines take their famous mineral and fresh character from the vine’s roots which dig deep into the Kimméridgien limestone. This unique soil condition - chalk, limestone and fossilized oyster shells – is named for a stage of the late Jurassic period some 150 million years ago. The glacier forced to the surface an ancient sea floor from the Kimmeridgian era that had long been covered by soil and rock. This unique soil is what has made Burgundy the world famous wine region that it is today.

Pictures: Explaining the Terroir of the Bourgogne and Chablis, with Alexis Madelin

Jean-Marc Brocard: "The truth of wine lies in the soil where it has grown. The technique is an important factor in the wine growing, but it is only an aid, the wine is essentially the product of its soil." also " The soil of Chablis is exceptional and cannot be found anywhere in the world ; therefore I am a hard believer of the future of Chablis even for the next Millennium."

In reference to the lack of chemicals in the vineyard, Jean Marc says: "Our policy is to encourage the natural auto-immune system of the vine. Ploughing replaces herbicides and a good dose of well-rotted cow manure encourages the natural microbial activity of the soil."

This is not to say that Jean-Marc is afraid of technology or modernization, as he was the first winemaker in Chablis to use mechanical harvesting as a means to bring the fruit into the winery as fast as possible to preserve their fresh qualities.

Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard is also a negociant. In 1980 a sparkling new winery was built near the little church of Sainte Claire and since then only the most cutting edge of technologies have been implemented in the facility. Total production is 4,000,000 bottles a year. The company exports 60% of its produce mainly to the UK, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Japan and the USA.

Entrance Fee: one bottle of Riesling per person. However if you are not such a fan of Riesling, feel free to bring a Pinot-Noir.

We will contribute some nice German Rieslings as well as a German Pinot-Noir and to quench the appetite while tasting all those wines: a selection of cheeses, cold cuts, German sausages, German potato salad, and bread.

We are very much looking forward to having you at our house (please send a RSVP mail and in return we will mail you our address) to taste and discuss all those wines and to have lots of laughter and fun.

The first wine region we visited on the Germany-East Wine and Art Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015) was the Saale-Unstrut Region. There, we visited 3 wineries: Weingut Lützkendorf, Weingut Bernhard Pawis and Weingut Thürkind. The former 2 are heavy-weights; these are the only 2 members of the VDP, the association of about 200 German elite winemakers, in the Saale-Unstrut Region.

Pictures: Driving from Weingut Pawis to Weingut Thürkind in the Saale Unstrut Region

We finished our visit of the Saale Unstrut Region with Weingut Thürkind. It is an up and coming wine producer, but plays in a different league than the other 2 producers.

The Saale-Unstrut wine region sits on 51st latitude and is Germany’s northernmost wine region, located in the valleys of the Saale and Unstrut rivers, an area of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). The oldest record of viticulture dates back to the year 998 during the reign of Emperor Otto III.

Pictures: Arriving at Weingut Thürkind

Weingut Thürkind

Weingut Thürkind was founded shortly after reunification (in 1991) when the Government returned land to Rudolf and Birgit Thürkind which had been nationalized during the communist era. The land included 1.8 hectares of vineyards.

Pictures: Cellar Tour and Barrel Tasting at Weingut Thürkind

During the GDR times, Rudolf Thürkind used to work as cellar master in the cooperative in Freyburg. Winemaker colleagues of the wine regions in the western part of Germany encouraged the Thürkinds to produce and bottle their own wine and not to deliver the grapes to the cooperative in Freyburg. And they assisted the Thürkinds through the provision of inexpensive machines. Rudolf Thürkind produced a bit more than 1000 cases from the first vintage.

Today, more than twenty years later, the Thürkind family owns 15 acres of vineyards in very favorable sites and developed the old farm into into a beautiful estate, making excellent wines, including gorgeous Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris.

Since 2005, Weingut Thürkind also offers rooms for people who are interested to spend their vacation at a winery.

Son Mario Thürkind is now at the helm of the estate, with his wife Anje. They have 2 children. Mario Thürkind did an apprenticeship at Weingut Ernst, one of the winemakers that helped the Thürkinds so much when they started their business after reunification.

The vineyard area has grown to 12 hectares. In addition, Mario Thürkind buys grapes amounting to 6 hectares. The main grape varieties are: Müller-Thurgau, Riesling, Kerner, Weißburgunder and Grauburgunder as well as Blauer Portugieser and Zweigelt.

Wine Tours

About Me

I live in the greater Washington DC (US) and Frankfurt am Main (Germany) areas and write about wine. I am a member of the FIJEV (International Federation of Wine and Spirits Journalists and Writers). Before starting to write about wine in 2009, I was for almost 30 years an economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). I am currently in Washington DC.